How Many Words
by NicoleMack
Summary: Major Spoilage. Conversations between Luke and Lorelai during the summer.
1. To Tell You I Miss You?

Notes: This story is based on ridiculous amounts of spoilers, so I suggest you turn back now until the first two episodes (at least) have aired. There is still some speculation on events, so I'm taking creative licence with that and choosing the sequence for myself. Ok Spoiler Marys, if you don't turn back now, you will get spoiled!

This story has come about from the knowledge that Luke goes away all summer, and I thought 'Hey, so do he and Lorelai talk at ALL while he's gone?' I mean, if it were me, I'd be on that phone every damn day, so here's some snippets of conversations _I_ think they had.

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own them.****

**How Many Words...?**

**By NicoleMack**

Chapter One: ..To Tell You I Miss You

Luke wondered, for the seventh day in a row, why on _earth_ he had agreed to help his sister on the Ren Faire circuit. What was it exactly that had compelled him to say, "Yes Liz, I'll come with you, surround myself with those crazy nostalgia-loving freaks and leave behind the best thing that had ever happened to me. Sure, I'll be there tomorrow!" He shook his head as he stood inside the booth TJ had built for his wife, ready to be Liz's go-to guy the moment she needed anything. She was set up in a lawn chair, her plastered foot propped up on a makeshift footrest, a small card table in front of her, covered with provisions for making her jewellery.

Since she wasn't in a position to move around easily, she had requested that her brother come and help out, make the sales, collect supplies from the van when needed, keep them in change. And he had agreed. Only now, one week later, he was wishing he was back home, standing at the front door of either the Dragonfly, or the Gilmore home, waiting for her to appear with shining eyes, flowing curls and a brilliant smile. He wanted to be able to continue what he had started that night. But of course, Liz's request for help had been urgent, and he'd only managed to speak to Lorelai over the phone before hurriedly packing and leaving. There had been no time to stop by and see her.

He checked his watch, glad to see that there was only two hours left of the day's fair, and once he'd packed the booth and the stock away, he'd be able to track down a pay phone and make the call he'd been wanting to make all week. He had tried a couple of times already, but the first had resulted in messages to her machine, her voicemail and Michel; the second had been bad timing, ending only a few minutes later with her suggesting that he call her on Sunday, the supposed day of rest. She of course, would still be at the inn, but she promised to make time for him should he call.

Naturally, the time passed at a snail's pace, and his clock-watching did not go unnoticed by Liz. He managed to sidestep any questions with lame excuses he was sure she didn't believe, but understood he didn't want to explain. It was after six when he finally managed to get away, so he decided to take a chance and dial her home number. As it rang, he began to think she must not be there yet, but it stopped suddenly and he heard her breathless, "Hello?"

"You ok? You sound stressed or something."

"No I just got home. I was still outside when the phone started ringing."

"Oh. Long day?"

"Sort of. I didn't go in until ten, but it's just hard, you know? I doubt I'm going to be able to take a single day off all summer."

"But it's going well," he stated, only asking for confirmation.

"Yeah, it is." He could hear the smile in her voice, the pride in her words. "So how's Mr Renaissance doing?"

"There people are insane Lorelai, you have no idea."

"You forget I was at Liz's wedding."

"That was just one day. This is never ending."

"Regretting your decision?"

"Completely. But I couldn't say no to Liz. And it has been good spending more time with her."

"You're a good brother Luke."

"Yeah well.." he trailed off, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"So, last I checked the diner was still standing," she told him, knowing a change of subject would be welcome.

"Good, good. Still going in for your daily fix, I assume."

"Would you expect anything else?"

"Only that you've convinced Caesar to make the coffee to your recipe." He laughed silently when she released a shocked gasp.

"Luke Danes! Do you really think I'd stoop that low?"

"Yes," he immediately replied.

"If this is the way the conversation is going to continue, I think I'll hang up now."

"There's no point trying to play innocent Lorelai. I spoke to Caesar at lunch time."

"Oh."

"If you keep it up, he's going to stop serving you."

"But Luke," she complained, "he doesn't make it as good as you do."

"But it's still drinkable," he countered.

"It's not the same."

"I'm sure you can survive a few weeks without it. It's not like you're being cut off completely."

"A few weeks? So you're coming home early then?" she questioned, ignorantly hopeful.

"Believe me," he began, his voice suddenly quieter, more intimate, "there's nothing I'd like more."

"But?"

"But Liz has pins in her ankle. There's no way she'll be walking before the end of summer."

"So we have no choice but to accept our fate?" she asked, sighing dramatically.

"If that's how you want to word it, yes."

Silence prevailed for a few moments while Luke held an internal debate over whether he should tell her his true reason for calling. She spoke up before he had the chance, saying, "I was really looking forward to our date."

"It'll happen."

"I know, but it was supposed to have been a week ago. By now we should be on our third date, at least."

"It's not like we cancelled. It's just been postponed."

"Yeah, _all_ summer." There was the sigh again.

"Are you like this with all the men you date?"

"Only the ones I _really_ like," she quipped.

"I miss you." The words had shot out of his mouth before his brain could catch up.

Once again, she sighed, only this time it was slow and calming. "How long did you say til you're back?"

"Seven weeks."

"Too long."

"Sorry."

"Call me next week?"

"Sure. Same time good?"

"Yeah, just call my cell if there's no answer here."

"Ok, well I guess I'll talk to you then. Bye."

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I miss you too."

--

TBC...

Please review, it's my caffeine!


	2. Will Explain Your Mood?

How Many Words ...?

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter Two: ...Will Explain Your Mood?

The chair squeaked as she slumped into it and leaned back, surveying the room with disdain. The day, no the week had been long and hard, and she was frustrated and tired and stressed. She wondered how her life had suddenly turned into an existence consisting only of work, food and sleep. She had no social life to speak of whatsoever. Sookie was almost as busy as she was, and when she wasn't working, she had Davey to care for. Rory was off gallivanting around Europe with her mother (she would have smirked at the idea of Emily gallivanting, but she was in too foul a mood to gather the strength), and Luke, of all people to be away from Stars Hollow, was somewhere far away, being the good man that he was to someone else.

Yet another week has passed since their last conversation, and though she quite honestly wouldn't have had the time to put into a decent conversation, she still would have liked to hear his voice. But because of her commitment to her business, they had agreed to talk once a week, on Sundays, when things were supposed to be calmer. But now it was almost seven, and she had yet to hear from him.

Fed up with being inside the office, she decided to go home and make an attempt at relaxing. Maybe she'd run a bubble bath, have a glass of wine, forget about the rest of the world for a couple of hours.

After dragging her feet across the threshold of her house, she checked the machine for messages. The automated voice told her a call had come in at 6:37pm, then Luke's message began.

"Lorelai, hey. Um, I guess you're not home yet, so I'll try your cell. Otherwise, I'll try again in about an hour. Ok, bye."

"Crap," she said, stomping her foot on the floor for emphasis. Rummaging through her bag, Lorelai pulled out her phone, and sure enough, the battery was dead. "Crap crap crap. Damn it!"

Grabbing the cordless phone and trudging up the stairs, she cursed the fact that Luke still refused to get himself a cell phone. She didn't care how hypocritical it would seem, she just wanted an easier way to get in contact with him. Now all she could do was wait for him to call. Deciding to follow through on her plan of soaking in the tub, she entered the bathroom and ran the water before rummaging through the cabinets for her favourite bubble bath.

It was barely three minutes into her soak when the phone rang. She grabbed it quickly, grunting a "hello?"

"Hey, where have you been? I tried calling you earlier," he sounded happy, but it did nothing to improve her own mood.

"Battery died."

"Are you ok?"

"Fine."

"You don't sound fine."

"Wow, excellent deductive skills," she snapped sarcastically.

"Seriously, did something happen?"

"No."

"Ok, you know what? There's no point talking to you if you're not gonna talk to me."

Lorelai remained silent, thinking over what her next words would be. It was hard to get out of this mood once she was in it. Usually it took a good night's sleep and an extra large cup of coffee the next morning to properly diminish any sign of it.

"Fine. I'm gonna go. I'll talk to you next week," his voice woke her from her daze, and the idea of surviving yet another week without a decent conversation reminded her how she'd gotten into her mood in the first place.

"Why did you have to go away?" she blurted out before he could hang up.

"What do you mean? You know why I'm here."

"I mean, how is it that after thinking this summer was going to be so great, I've ended up stuck here alone?"

"Ah, so that's what this is about."

"The two people I wanted to spend most of my time with are gone, and I'm going nuts!"

"What about Sookie?"

"She's as busy as I am, and she already has a family that takes precedence over me."

"It's only another six weeks."

"Don't do that. It doesn't help."

"Sorry."

She sighed regretfully. "No I'm sorry. I'm not the greatest company right now."

"It's ok, I understand. I think you need to get a good night's sleep, and take a day off from work."

"You know I can't."

"Why not? I thought Michel was there for a reason."

"Nevermind," she paused, sighing again. "Maybe you're right. I should just go to bed and hope I feel better tomorrow."

"Ok. I'll try to call you in a couple days. Things get pretty hectic during the week, but I'll try."

"Ok, good." She finally found a reason to smile for the first time that evening.

"Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight Luke."

"Bye."

--

TBC

Ok, so now that ep 1 has aired, and DAMN LUKE for being a big fat (ok, big sexy muscly) hypocrite and buying himself a cell phone, I had to go through the debate – change or not to change, that is the question? I decided to keep the story as is, otherwise, this story could go on for years. At least by limiting their phone access, I can keep the fic to a more manageable number of chapters, and can also maximise the tension. So there ya go, Luke will be payphoning it for the remainder of this story.


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